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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 154, 00-08-11Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 154, 11 August 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER NOTES IMPROVEMENT IN ARMED FORCESSerzh Sarkisian, who was appointed defense minister for thesecond time three months ago, told journalists in Yerevan on 10 August that the Armenian army is now "better armed, better funded, and better organized" than in 1993-95 during his previous term as minister, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. He claimed that discipline within the armed forces is strong, discounting repeated reports of hazing and the recent incident in which two deserters shot eight people dead before being apprehended (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 and 21 July 2000). LF [02] ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT UNVEILS HEALTH INSURANCE PLANSTheArmenian government approved on 10 August the main points of what it expects to become a national system of mandatory health insurance in the next few years, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The insurance "concept" developed by the Ministry of Health introduces a system of monthly obligatory payments to a special public fund that will cover the costs of medical services, which much of the population cannot currently afford. Health Minister Ararat Mkrtchian told journalists that the majority of contributions will come from the state budget, and that the new system will be introduced "in the first half of next year." Also on 10 August, Noyan Tapan quoted a Public Health Service official as saying that during the first five months of this year the sector received only 17 percent of the total funds allocated from this year's state budget. Many Yerevan medical personnel have not received their salaries since last fall. LF [03] ARMENIA RETURNS MORE 'TROPHY ART' TO GERMANYArmenia hassent back to Germany a second consignment of valuable books and manuscripts seized by the Soviet Army after World War II, Reuters reported on 10 August quoting a German government statement. A first consignment was returned in May 1998 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 May 1998). LF [04] AZERBAIJAN: ARMENIANS GAINING UNFAIR ADVANTAGE ON RUSSIANPRODUCE MARKETThe Armenian government's exemption from customs duties on trucks transporting Armenian-produced cabbage and potatoes to Georgia has caused concern in Azerbaijan that its farmers may lose their share of the Russian produce market, Armenpress reported on 10 August quoting the Azerbaijani news agency Bilik Dunyasi. Russian customs officials on the Azerbaijani border with Daghestan routinely extort huge bribes from Azerbaijani truck drivers. LF [05] AZERBAIJANI EDITORS TO COORDINATE ELECTION COVERAGEEditorsof newspapers planning to give broad coverage of the runup to the 5 November parliamentary elections have formed a Media Union-2000 to that end, "Azadlyg" reported on 10 August. It is not clear whether they agreed to establish a uniform fee for publishing election-related materials submitted by parties contending the ballot. LF [06] GEORGIA DENIES RANSOM DEMANDED FOR ABDUCTED RED CROSSWORKERSFormer Georgian parliament deputy Mamuka Areshidze, who is one of the negotiators conducting talks on terms for the release of three Red Cross workers abducted in Georgia's Pankisi gorge on 4 August, told Caucasus Press on 10 August that the abductors are not demanding a ransom for their captives' release, nor have they made any "political demands." Instead, Areshidze said, they are demanding the solution of unspecified social "problems...of a rather complicated character," which will entail "courage and resolution" on the part of the Georgian authorities. LF [07] OSCE SAYS NO VIOLATIONS REGISTERED ON GEORGIAN-CHECHENBORDERRomania's ambassador to the OSCE, Liviu Bota, who was previously the UN secretary-general's special representative for the Abkhaz conflict, on 10 August inspected OSCE monitoring posts in the Georgian border villages of Shatili, Omalo, and Girevi, Caucasus Press reported. Bota said after that tour that the OSCE observers deployed along the Georgian-Chechen border have registered no unauthorized border crossings since they began their mission in February. Russian military officials regularly claim that mercenaries and weapons enter Chechnya from Georgian territory. LF [08] KYRGYZ PRESS TARGETS KULOV TRIAL JUDGEIn an editorialpublished in its 10 August edition, the pro-government newspaper "Slovo Kyrgyzstana" implied that presiding judge Nurlan Ashymbekov may have been paid a large bribe in hard currency to acquit former Vice President Feliks Kulov, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. On 7 August, Ashymbekov announced Kulov's acquittal for lack of evidence on charges of abusing his official position while serving as National Security Minister in 1997-1998 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2000). Ramazan Dyryldaev, chairman of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, told RFE/RL that he believes the decision to acquit Kulov was taken under pressure from the international community by President Askar Akaev, to the displeasure of other senior members of the country's leadership. LF [09] UZBEK ISLAMISTS ENTER KYRGYZSTAN...Kyrgyz presidentialspokesman Osmonakun Ibraimov told journalists in Bishkek on 11 August that two Kyrgyz servicemen were injured in fighting earlier that day between Kyrgyz government troops and a group of 30-40 fighters who had entered Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken Oblast from Tajikistan en route to Uzbekistan, Reuters reported. Ibraimov said the fighters are believed to belong to the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group of whose forces clashed with Uzbek troops earlier this week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8, 9, and 10 August 2000). Also on 11 August, ITAR-TASS quoted an unnamed Uzbek official as saying that Uzbek forces destroyed "the main group" of those fighters in a surprise raid early on 10 August. On that same day, the first deputy chief of the Russian Army General Staff, Colonel-General Valerii Manilov, said that Moscow will provide assistance if asked to help Uzbekistan defeat the Islamists, Interfax reported. LF [10] ...AS MORE FIGHTERS DRIVEN BACK ON TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDERRussian Border Guards in Tajikistan thwarted an attemptduring the night of 10-11 August by a group of some 40 armed men to cross the Shaartus sector of the Afghan-Tajik border, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. The infiltrators were forced to retreat. The Russian border guards, although outnumbered, said they suffered no casualties. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] SECURITY COUNCIL BLASTS SERBIA OVER ARRESTSUN SecurityCouncil President Hasmy Agam of Malaysia issued a statement on 10 August saying that "members of the Security Council expressed their concern over the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's disregard of its international obligations with regard to the arrest and detention of the two British, two Canadian, and four Dutch citizens. [Members] urged the FRY authorities to fulfill all of the requirements of the relevant provisions of international law without further delay," Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 2000). On 11 August, a group of 56 distinguished Montenegrin authors, professors, and other persons appealed to the Security Council to "urgently dispatch monitors with an international mandate to observe all the destructive activities of [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic's military and paramilitary troops" in Montenegro, AP reported from Podgorica. PM [12] RUSSIA REPORTEDLY INTERVENES OVER SERBIAN ARRESTSRussianPresident Vladimir Putin wants the legal status of international organizations in Yugoslavia "defined swiftly" to ensure their workers' immunity from arrest and persecution, London's "The Guardian" reported from Moscow on 11 August. Putin takes a dim view of "international hostage- taking," an unnamed presidential aide added. Aleksandr Yakovenko, who is a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told the daily that the Kremlin will react "positively" if Britain asks Russia to use its influence in Belgrade in the case. Later on 11 August, Interfax reported that Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has written the Belgrade authorities, asking them to help "clear up the circumstances of the case," an unnamed ministry source noted. The source added that "the Yugoslav side has promised to listen to the advice of the Russian minister." PM [13] SERBIAN OPPOSITION WITHOUT DRASKOVIC IN LOCAL ELECTIONSTheunited opposition will field joint slates in the 24 September local elections, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Belgrade on 10 August. Representatives of the 15 parties agreed that the slate will be called "Democratic Opposition of Serbia--Vojislav Kostunica." Kostunica, who is the united opposition's presidential candidate, will formally "head" each local slate. Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic will chair the central campaign organization. As in the presidential race, Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement will run its own candidates and thereby play the role of strategic ally of Milosevic by splitting the opposition vote (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 11 August 2000). PM [14] SPECIAL UN STATUS FOR MONTENEGRO?Montenegrin ForeignMinister Branko Lukovac said that "there are good prospects" that his republic may soon receive an unspecified "special status" at the UN, "Vesti" reported on 11 August. He added that Montenegro may be allowed to open an accredited "mission" to the world organization (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 2000). PM [15] U.S. WARNS MILOSEVIC ON MONTENEGROState Departmentspokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington on 10 August that "Secretary Albright and other U.S. officials have reiterated many times our strong interest in the security of the region, including Montenegro. And in addition, NATO ministers and officials have also made it clear that NATO is concerned about the situation in Montenegro. So I think we've been quite clear about this situation. We remain vigilant. NATO is watching, we are watching the situation very closely, and we're working to support democratic forces in the region, which we believe is the best way for the region as a whole to find stability," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson also recently warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic against "miscalculating" in his relations with Podgorica (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 July 2000). PM [16] SLOVENE ARRESTED IN MONTENEGROA Slovenian tourist wasrecently arrested by the Yugoslav army in Montenegro, the Ljubljana daily "Dnevnik" reported on 11 August, quoting Foreign Ministry sources. The tourist was arrested where he was vacationing, which was nowhere near any military sites, the ministry noted. The ministry recently warned its citizens to be careful when traveling in Montenegro (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2000). PM [17] YUGOSLAV ARMY, MONTENEGRIN OFFICIALS MEET TO DEFUSE TENSIONSThe Montenegrin Interior Ministry issued a statement inPodgorica on 11 August saying that "Interior Minister Vukasin Maras has met an army delegation consisting of 10 generals and two colonels and headed by Deputy Chief of Staff General- Colonel Miodrag Simic. In an open and constructive dialogue, they discussed current issues related to the securing of state land and sea borders and adequate informing of the public. Special attention was given to intensifying cooperation between Montenegro's Interior Ministry and the Yugoslav Army to overcome accumulated problems and reduce growing tensions," the statement added. General Nebojsa Pavkovic, who is chief of the General Staff and a staunch Milosevic loyalist, is in Montenegro on a visit. He told a local radio station that the army "will not allow anyone to infiltrate into Yugoslav territory terrorists and foreign mercenaries whose aim is to provoke clashes between the army and the police, which would cause chaos leading to a break-up of the state," Reuters reported. PM [18] MESIC PREDICTS TROUBLE IN MONTENEGROSpeaking to a pressconference in Washington on 10 August, Croatian President Stipe Mesic said that Milosevic has "learned nothing" from his defeats in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosova, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Mesic added that "the international community should now send a message to Milosevic to force him to desist from causing any crisis in Montenegro. He should not be permitted to engage in a military adventure in Montenegro.... He should never be able to engage in any further military adventure in the future. Ever. And Montenegro's citizens are entitled to choose their own way, their own path." PM [19] CROATIAN LEADERS PLEASED WITH U.S. VISITWrapping up athree-day visit to the U.S., Mesic hailed military cooperation between Zagreb and Washington: "We said--not making any secret of it--that U.S. instructors have helped us in the structuring of the Croatian armed forces.... The Croatian armed forces are so close to NATO standards that we expect that membership very soon," an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Washington on 10 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 2000). Prime Minister Ivica Racan added that "if you had been present at the working breakfast meeting we had with the (U.S.) Chamber of Commerce and members of American business, you would have seen quite a few representatives of outstanding American companies offering concrete arrangements and business deals.... What was exceptionally important for us was the assessment which we received that currently the cooperation with Croatia and investment in Croatia is safer than it was ever [before]." PM [20] NATO 'STILL COMMITTED' TO CATCH BOSNIAN SERBS' KARADZICUnnamed NATO officials in Brussels denied recent pressreports that the U.S. and some other members of the Atlantic alliance are "afraid" to capture indicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic lest they risk taking casualties, the "Financial Times" reported on 11 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2000). The officials stressed that NATO is "more committed than ever" and will arrest Karadzic "when the conditions are right." Jacques Klein, who is the UN's chief representative in Bosnia, and many other observers argue that Bosnia cannot put the legacy of the 1992-1995 conflict behind it until Karadzic is arrested and brought to trial in The Hague (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 2000). Meanwhile in New York, a judge ruled on 10 August that Karadzic owes a group of Bosnian Muslim rape victims some $745 million in damages. PM [21] PETRITSCH BLASTS BOSNIAN EDUCATION MINISTERSWolfgangPetritsch, who is the international community's high representative in Bosnia, charged Republika Srpska Education Minister Nenad Suzic and federal Deputy Education Minister Ivo-Miro Jovic on 10 August with "obstructionism." The two men have allegedly tried to hold up implementation of an agreement for joint textbooks for all of Bosnia. The books will be written in both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets and will treat the history and literature of Bosnia on a unified basis, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [22] INVESTMENT FUND VICTIMS CLASH WITH ROMANIAN POLICESome 500people protesting against the loss of their savings in the collapsed National Investment Fund (FNI) on 10 August clashed with police in Bucharest as they tried to force their way into the seat of the government and blocked adjacent roads, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Two policemen were injured and two demonstrators said to have attacked them with knives were arrested. A governmental counselor who received a delegation of the protesters said the government will not cover losses in a private fund from its state budget. A Bucharest court recently ruled that the state savings bank CEC, which guaranteed the FNI investments, must cover part of the losses, but the CEC has appealed that decision. On 9 August, two Romanian prosecutors flew to Israel to present in court arguments for the extradition of former FNI manager Ioana Maria Vlas. Media reports say Vlas may have left Israel, however. MS [23] ROMANIA REVISES UPWARD FORECAST INFLATION RATEGovernmentalspokeswoman Gabriela Vranceanu-Firea on 10 August said the government has revised the expected inflation rate for 2000. The cabinet now forecasts a 32 percent annual rate, instead of 27 percent as it did in early 2000. Vranceanu-Firea said the revision was mainly due to the impact of the drought. The July inflation rate was 4.3 percent, considerably higher than the 2.8 percent rate registered in June, Mediafax reported. MS [24] TOEKES'S ALLEGED SECURITATE COLLABORATION STIRS CROSS-BORDERCONTROVERSYExecutive members of the Hungarian World Federation (MVSZ) declared that Reformed Church Bishop Laszlo Toekes will have to resign as the organization's honorary chairman if it turns out that he did cooperate with the communist-era Romanian secret services, Hungarian media reported on 11 August. Istvan G. Palffy, a member of the MVSZ's executive, said he was shocked to read Toekes' admission that he had written his own declaration as a Securitate informer, although Toekes had stressed that he did not sign the document (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 2000). Palffy said he wrote to Toekes reminding him that the MVSZ had decided that leaders must scrutinize their own past, and should not accept key positions "if they have skeletons hiding in their closets." MSZ [25] U.S. MEDICAL AID EQUIPMENT ARRIVES IN MOLDOVAA consignmentof medical equipment--the largest single shipment of humanitarian aid received by Moldova since it became independent--arrived in the country's capital on 10 August, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The total value of the aid is $16.8 million and it will be distributed to medical institutions in the Transdniester and in the autonomous Gagauz-Yeri region as well. Thirty U.S. military medical experts will monitor its use and will remain in Moldova till March 2001 to instruct aid recipients. MS [C] END NOTE[26] DEMONIZATION IN RUSSIA AND ITS DISCONTENTSBy Paul GobleThe 8 August explosion in Moscow has thrown into high relief the gulf that exists in Russia between those who are prepared to play on prejudices against the Chechens and those who recognize the dangers of demonizing an entire people. Immediately after the blast, Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov said that there were "many indications" that Chechen rebels were responsible for the bombing. But less than 24 hours later, President Vladimir Putin backed away from such assertions when he noted on national television that "it is very wrong when we brand one nation, because criminals-- terrorists above all--do not have a nation or a belief." This difference in approach reflects a longstanding difference in the attitudes and calculations of the two men. Since at least October 1993, Luzhkov has played on the prejudices of some Russians against people from the Caucasus. In the wake of the conflict between then-President Boris Yeltsin and the country's parliament, Luzhkov issued a decree expelling from the Russian capital "people of Caucasian nationality." He has regularly invoked its provisions in the years since that time, most recently during what was called Operation Whirlwind at the start of Moscow's second campaign in Chechnya. And because his decree was enforced with the assistance of federal authorities, many other localities followed his lead and sought to deflect popular anger by moving against the Chechens. And Luzhkov's playing to popular prejudice and extremist nationalist attitudes in this case appears to be part and parcel of his larger agenda, which has included demands that Moscow seek the return to Russia of all or part of Crimea from Ukraine. Whatever his personal views, Putin, by way of contrast, has been much more cautious in this regard. Part of the reason for that appears to lie in his understanding that large-scale attacks on the Chechens as a whole--or on Muslims as a group--could complicate Russia's relationship with the West and with Muslim countries as well as Moscow's ties with its own Muslim minorities. When he launched the campaign in Chechnya last year, Putin initially made some sweeping statements about the Chechen nation, but he quickly backed away when it was pointed out that such remarks--which suggested that Moscow was interested in exterminating the Chechens as a group--were not playing well either in the Middle East or in Western Europe. Another reason for Putin's caution appears to be his understanding that a sweeping attack on the Chechens as a whole has the effect of driving those Chechens who might be willing to cooperate with Moscow into the hands of pro- independence Chechen groups and thus of complicating his efforts to end what he has called his campaign against terrorism. Indeed, immediately after this week's explosion, Shamil Beno, an official in the pro-Moscow Chechen interim administration representative in the Russian capital, said publicly that comments like those of Luzhkov threaten stability both "in Chechnya and in Moscow itself." Beno's words were echoed by other Chechens, including those opposed to Moscow's rule in that North Caucasian republic. And yet a third reason for Putin's relatively cautious approach is that many Russians are not persuaded by official charges that the Chechens are responsible for this or earlier terrorist acts in the Russian Federation. A poll released two weeks ago, for example, found that 50 percent of Russians did not believe government claims that the Chechens were behind the attacks on apartment buildings in Russian cities a year ago. And a survey of more than 5,000 Russians the day after the bombing found that slightly more than one-third of them did not think that the Chechens were to blame for the latest explosion. These poll results suggest that many Russians are not prepared to accept charges--like those made by Luzhkov-- without evidence. Many appear to take this position because they believe that the authorities must offer real evidence first. Others do so because they fear, on the basis of past experience, that sweeping attacks on the Chechens could lead to attacks on other groups or to serve as the justification for a new authoritarianism. For all these reasons, Putin's reaction to the explosion in Moscow this week is likely to prove more politically prudent than the dramatic comments of Luzhkov, evidence of both the Russian president's pragmatism and the increasing unwillingness of Russian citizens to accept in the absence of clear evidence whatever the authorities say about Chechnya-- or indeed, about anything else. 11-08-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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